Okay…
by SilvermoonLavoy
Summary: Changed the summary! Nico has been deemed unstable as a teenager by the Gods, so he's been de aged into an eight year old. But is he really the danger the Gods have deemed him?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay! This is totally new and stuff! For those of you who have read my stories, I will be updating some of those stories. **

* * *

Hades shook Odin's hand in greeting. Many millennia ago, the god of the underworld and All-father made a truce to prevent a vicious war. Every hundred or so years, the two would meet in Asgard to discuss things as to keep their truce.

Today, Odin decided to bring his eldest son with him.

"Hades, this is my son Thor. Thor, this is Lord Hades. He is the god of the underworld in Midgard." Odin introduced the two.

"It is an honor to meet you, Lord Hades." Thor said, bowing his head in respect.

"Thor Odinson. You have caused some trouble in the Underworld, but not as much as your brother has. My own son is tying up loose ends from his latest mess." Hades said dryly.

"I am sorry that my brother has caused you such strife." Thor apologized.

"You have no reason. If anything, it is Loki who should apologize, not you." Hades said.

"Lord Hades, did you say that you have a son?" Odin asked.

"Yes, I do." he replied.

"And he lives on Midgard?" Thor asked.

"But of course. Where else would he live?" he answered.

"I have not met him. That is why I ask." Thor said.

"I am sure you have heard his name, but have not quite learned fully of what he has done. His name is Nico di Angelo." Hades said.

"Now that, I have heard. He is centuries old and very wise! He fought in two wars alongside the great Perseus Jackson!" Thor boomed.

"Ah yes, time is very different between our realms." Hades recalled, "Nico is not even a century old. And he is forever in the form of an eight year old thanks to the council, who decided that it would be for the best. My son is still learning about the world. Thor, he is not the great man you have heard of."

"No matter! He is still a valiant warrior that I would be more than happy to fight alongside!" Thor responded.

"Perhaps you would like to meet my son?" Hades suggested slyly.

"It would be an honor." Thor answered.

"Then I have a proposition to make. I know that you work alongside the Avengers, and I need to get the boy out into the real world again. How would you like to show him more about Midgard? After all, he is still readjusting to this new time as well as Captain Rogers. I think it would suit him better to learn while protecting the mortals." Hades told him.

"It would be an honor to enlighten a hero of Olympus." Thor said.

"Then it's settled. Nico will stay with you for the time being. Keep an eye on him. Nico tends to cause trouble." Hades instructed.

"Marvelous! When shall I meet him?" Thor asked.

"Right now. Nico!" Hades called.

The shadows twisted and turned into a form. A small boy walked out of them. He had obsidian hair in which a black crown settled on his head and eyes darker than Thor had ever seen.

"Yes, father?" Nico asked.

"Nico, you are to accompany Thor. He will show you Midgard." Hades said.

"Hold up. You're telling me that I'm going to have to follow him for however long you find suit?" Nico asked.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Hades replied.

"Nope, just checking."


	2. Chapter 2

Nico was hiding in Thor's shadow. It had concerned Thor when he disappeared, but Nico assured him that he was still next to him. It surprised Thor by how easily the boy could disappear into the shadows…

Nico looked calm and collective on the outside, but on the inside he was having a mental breakdown. Not only was he now stuck in the body of an eight year old forever, but now he had to deal with this?! It seemed as though the fates just hate his guts…

A howl caught their attention.

"What was that?" Thor asked bewildered.

"I think I know, but I hope I'm wrong." Nico said, taking off towards the noise.

"Nico!" Thor yelled giving chase.

Nico skidded to a halt in front of the beast that made the sound. He winced at the jabbing pain in his ribs. Oops. Forgot those injured ribs…

"Cerberus!" Nico exclaimed.

The giant, three headed dog was snapping and growling in distress, trying to get the person on his back off of him. The man on him couldn't be seen, for he wore all black and covered his face. Either way, Nico was not pleased.

In a fit of anger, Nico shot a blast of hellfire at the man, not caring if he killed him. The man jumped off and ran off. Before Nico could chase after him, Cerberus whined in pain before slumping down in front of Nico.

"Wimp." Nico muttered before turning to his distressed monster dog.

He pet the main head and calmed the started animal. As he moved to the beast's side, some people started running towards him.

"Whoa! Holy shit!" a male voice exclaimed.

Nico turned his head and saw none other than the Avengers, minus the Hulk, gaping at him, Black Widow pointing her gun at one of Cerberus's heads.

"Son, slowly step away from the monster." Captain America called.

"Pfft… as if." Nico snorted, going back to Cerberus.

"Nico, I ask that you leave the beast so that we may end it." Thor said evenly.

"Cerberus wouldn't intentionally harm someone. He was being controlled." Nico defended his pet, finding the wound.

"Cerberus?"

"That thing has a name?!"

"Of course he has a name. Everything has a name. This is my father's dog. He guards the gates." Nico muttered, stemming the bleeding and wrapping up the wound.

"He is injured?" Thor asked.

"Yeah, but he'll be fine. We just need to get him back home and he'll be back to normal health." Nico responded, pulling an old leather leash seemingly out of nowhere.

He hooked it onto Cerberus' collar and walked his dog to a nearby subway station.

"Go home, boy." Nico ordered, unhooking the leash.

Cerberus licked his young master before limping off into the shadows.

"You just unleashed a giant monster dog into a subway full of pedestrians and civilians!" Captain America exclaimed.

"It's fine. They won't notice." Nico assured him.

"Nico, you could have been seriously injured. Broken beyond repair!" Thor boomed, concern laced in his voice.

"I'm a demigod, Thor! What do you expect? Laying back and letting you guys handle it? I can take care of myself. And, I have powers! Powers that I know how to use!" Nico snapped at the thunder god.

"Hold on a second, point break. You know this kid?" Ironman asked.

"This is Nico di Angelo, my temporary charge." Thor told him. /div  
"More like a babysitter…" Nico muttered.  
The subway rumbled and Nico felt the shadows ruffle his hair, making him smile.

"So… we're watching the devil's son?" Clint clarified.  
"No. Thor's watching the guy that rules the underworld's son." Nico corrected.

"And who would that be?" Natasha asked.  
"Hades." Nico replied with an 'Are all mortals this stupid?' face.  
"Okay, you've got me. Now where's the cameras?" Ironman asked, looking around."What is he talking about?" Nico asked to which Clint shrugged his shoulders.  
"You guys got me good. Now seriously, who's the kid?" Tony asked, looking around.  
"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Ghost King."


	3. Chapter 3

**What? Did you think I'd forget you? Nah! I've just been uber busy lately. By the way, DO NOT KILL ME! IT IS NOT MY FAULT I'M LATE. It's all Tony's fault. ?**

At Avengers Tower, everyone was staring at Nico and Thor.

"So… you're an eighty-something year old trapped in an eight year old's body?" Bruce asked.

"Yes and no. According to my birth certificate, I am, but I never really grew up in the past. I spent a lot of time in a hotel that slowed time mentally. A few months there turned into seven decades. So I still had the mindset of my physical age. But now I'm an eight year old with the mindset of a fourteen about to be fifteen year old." Nico explained.

"So, you knew about Cap." Clint said.

"Ehh, Bianca, my sister, glorified Captain America. I, ah, thought it was a little ridiculous having someone who supposedly could bring down an entire army, yet he was turned into a performing monkey." Nico admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Wow, Cap, you just got bashed by an eight year old." Tony cackled, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, it's the eight year old portion. I have to be honest with a lot of things." Nico apologized.

Steve wasn't angry though. In fact, he found it hilarious that an eight year old just told him his own mindset on those dark days.

"I totally agree with you though. I went through with the experiment to help in the war, and I was turned into, like you said, a performing monkey." Steve chuckled.

"Why were you turned into an eight year old though?" Bruce asked the big question.

"I got trapped in Greek hell and went insane. I lashed out and nearly became the next Adolf Hitler. Yeah, we didn't want another world war to commence, because that's what happens to most children of Hades, so my dad knocked me out and the council had to decide what to do with me. Father didn't want me to die, so the council came up with the 'next best thing'.

"You see, the insanity gene in all children of Hades in our brains that start to take over when we near the age of ten. Before that, most Hades kids are like your average child.

"Dad explained that little fact and the council decided it would be best if I were to revert to an age in which I was basically still innocent. But they didn't want me to grow up and face the risk of World War III. So, they made me an immortal and the permanent title of Ghost King. And there you have it." Nico explained.

"That sucks." Clint stated.

"Yeah, I don't like to think about what happened all too much. It's brings back some nasty PTSD problems. And it's horrible when you wake up screaming your head off. Not to mention how sore your throat becomes." Nico said casually.

"You have PTSD?!" Tony demanded.

"Well, one usually gets that from all the mental and physical scars I have. I got sucked into Tartarus for a reason. We were in the middle of a war, my second war that I fought in." Nico stated.

"How many wars have you been in?" Steve sighed.

"Um… do you mean wars I've fought or wars altogether?" Nico questioned.

"Altogether." everyone answered except Thor, who knew all of Nico's hardships.

"I was born during World War II. My mom was the governor of Italy's daughter, so we had to flee to America to avoid the nazis and my half brother. Then, at the age of twelve and thrown into a completely different and new time, I fought as a general in the Titan War, which took place in Manhattan. And then I helped fight Mother Earth herself in the Giant War. In that war, I got trapped in Tartarus and nearly died." Nico explained, walking towards Tony's bar, making himself a drink, and starting to drink it.

The Avengers, minus Thor, were horrified at Nico's tale. They saw the back of his neck and realized there was dozens of healing welts and scars leading down into his shirt. They finally took notice of his appearance and saw the dozens of burns, scars, and bruises adorning skin that should be unmarred. It sickened them that even before he was turned into a child, Nico had never even reached the age of sixteen. Thor decided to stop his friends before they did something rash.

"Nico is a very powerful warrior. He is most wise and can win any battle he is faced with. He has faced many hardships in his life. It is not unusual that he would have so many scars. But, as you can see, he is not phased by it. Nico has accepted his life as a demigod and taken on the burden it comes with in full stride. He may look broken physically and perhaps mentally, but he does not care. Nico is what you Midgardians would call a child soldier, but in his world and on Asgard, he is a hero of Olympus." Thor said sagely.

"It's not right though. He's just a boy-"

"And yet he has seen and done things very few men can see or do." Thor cut Steve off.

"Is he drinking my scotch?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I am." Nico replied, waking back to them.

"Nico!" everyone exclaimed.

"What? Legally, I'm eighty-seven or whatever. Besides, my blood doesn't allow me to get drunk easily." Nico said defensively, jumping onto the counter with the grace of a cat.

"Please, don't drink. It's so disturbing." Bruce pleaded.

"Okay. Just be glad I'm not a smoker or anything. That would've probably been one of the worst things to see." Nico chuckled.

"Why do you say that?" Tony asked.

"Because Tobacco isn't strong enough so I'd most likely have marihuana or some other drug(s) with it." Nico replied.

"What have we gotten into?" Tony asked, looking up to the ceiling for answers.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Nico retorted.

"I do not believe so. Your father told me that you have a tendency to cause mischief wherever you wander." Thor said.

"Blame it on the ADHD. And the dyslexia. And Tony Miller! Yes, it is all Tony's fault." Nico said with a nod.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico jolted awake, scratching at his throat and screaming inaudible screeches. He calmed down, bringing his arms to his sides and gasping for air.

"Just a nightmare. I'm no longer there. I'm safe. I'm fine." he reminded himself.

Nico climbed out of his bed and left the room he was staying in, still wearing the black shorts and oversized My Chemical Romance shirt he went to sleep in. He was on the same floor as Steve, which he was more than thankful for after figuring out about Thor's loud snoring. He entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, grabbing the jug of chocolate milk. He put it on the counter and grabbed a glass and set that on the counter as well. He sat down for a minute to muse over what he saw, though that minute stretched without him realizing it.

After who knows how long, Nico was jolted out of his thoughts by a heavy hand on his shoulder. On instinct, Nico punched the monster that grabbed his shoulder in the chest. The creature fell with a very human like 'oof' and Nico took another glance at it. It turned out that there was no monster. It was actually Steve.

"Sorry, I just acted on impulse." Nico apologized, watching as Steve got up.

"It's fine. It takes a lot to get me actually hurt, though I have to say you have a mean left hook." Steve waved him off, rubbing his chest.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night for?" Nico asked in pure curiosity.

"Same as you, I bet. Nightmares." Steve replied.

"Oh," was the only response he got.

"Wanna talk about it?" Steve asked, pouring Nico's glass of chocolate milk before setting to pour himself his own.

"Not really. Talking about it makes it worse." Nico said, bringing his knees up to his chest.

"Alright. Then do you want to help me make chocolate chip pancakes?" Steve asked, pulling down all the necessary ingredients the pancakes.

"Sure, why not?" Nico said with a small smile.

The two worked together to make them, Steve even letting him having a few chocolate chips. Nico found that he liked Steve. When he first ever saw him, he thought that the man had a stick so far stuck up his ass that there was no hope for humankind, but now that he'd actually met the guy, he figured out how wrong he was. He was an honest guy who did what he thought was right. He was also very funny and knew how cook, which was a big plus about being friends with him. Nico partly blamed that thought on the ever present eight year old personality, but he also knew that he could easily be won over by actual food even when he was fourteen…

Steve hadn't known what to exactly think about the dark child at first. He had honestly expected him to be a mini Hitler after Nico said that the lunatic was his half brother. So imagine his surprise when he walks into the kitchen and sees the kid staring off into space with an empty glass and the chocolate milk jug on the counter.

"Nico?" Steve called, but he got no reply.

He reached out to shake him awake, but realized his mistake too soon. As soon as he touched him, Nico acted and punched him in the chest. Hard. Steve fell to the ground with an 'oof'.

"Sorry, I just acted on impulse." Nico apologized, his voice slightly worried.

Steve got up and looked at him, really looked at him. Nico was in black pajama shorts and an oversized band t-shirt. He didn't look at all threatening, just worried. He wasn't confident like he ha been earlier that day. Instead, he looked as though he had just gotten out of a war and everything like the broken child soldier he was.

"It's fine. It takes a lot to get me actually hurt, though I have to say you have a mean left hook." Steve told him.

"What are you doing up in the middle of the night for?" Nico asked, pure curiousness evident in his voice.

"Same as you, I bet. Nightmares." Steve replied.

He was guessing that was why Nico was up so early. Any person in their right mind would only be up because of their inner demons. The small "Oh" was what told him he was correct.

"Wanna talk about it?" he offered while pouring Nico the chocolate milk he most likely forgot about and helping himself to some.

"Not really. Talking about it makes it worse." Nico admitted.

Steve watched as he pulled his knees up to his chest, making him look even smaller than he had been.

"Alright. Then do you want to help me make chocolate chip pancakes?" Steve asked, pulling down all the necessary ingredients the pancakes.

"Sure, why not?" Nico said with a small smile.

Steve returned the smile with his own and the two got to work. It turned out Nico was a very sweet kid behind the mean, badass, Son of Hades exterior. He didn't like loud noises, of which he figured out when an explosion came from Tony's lab. He lived on the streets for awhile before going to live with his father. He wanted to help people, though they'd usually shy away from him. He loved animals very much, but most were either scared of him or they'd try to kill him. Nico then explained that he gave off a death-like aura as a son of Hades. The best thing about him in Steve's opinion, though, was the fact he'd been through so much, yet he kept that childish innocent mindset throughout everything. Most people lose that kind of innocence after all that he'd gone through.

So, as he watched him out of the corner of his eye (he couldn't help but laugh as he watched Nico sneak a couple chocolate chips), Steve found himself warming up to the strange boy.

By the time the others were awake, the two were thick as thieves.

"So, what's the occasion?" Tony asked.

"Nothing. Nico and I were just up early and we decided to make breakfast. Right, Nico?" Steve said.

"Yep." Nico replied, drowning his pancakes.

Steve took the syrup away and laughed at the scandalized look Nico sent him.

"You're supposed to eat pancakes with syrup, not syrup with a little bit of pancake." Steve admonished, setting it next to Natasha.

"Maybe I'm diabetic and need a lot of sugary substances?" Nico retorted.

"For one, orange juice would suit you just fine, and two, no insulin." Steve shot back.

"High metabolism?" he offered.

"If that were the case, you shouldn't get any at all!" Steve snorted.

"What about ADHD or dyslexia?" Nico questioned.

"If it's ADHD, then I've doomed us all. Dyslexia has nothing to do with your sugar intake." Steve said.

Nico took a big bite out of his pancakes while Thor looked at Steve with a look of horror.

"What is it, big guy?" Tony asked.

"I just remembered that on Midgard, people assume that demigods have this 'ADHD' that the captain speaks of." Thor answered.

"Nico, do you have ADHD?" Steve asked.

"Yep!" Nico replied through a mouthful of syrup coated pancakes.

"Oh dear Lord, we are all dead." Bruce said.

"I'm not that bad! It wears off! I think…" Nico assured them, his hands shaking from all the sugar.

"Take him to the park. Or a cemetery. Or whatever little Hades children do to run off some steam!" Tony ordered.

"I still want to actually explore the world. What better way than exploring the parks and all of New York with a kid who can probably help me blend in more?" Steve said.

"Great! After breakfast, you take the kid!" Tony exclaimed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright! Yeah, I've been tangled by English. So, here's my story on why I severely dislike substitutes with a burning passion. My English teacher was pregnant, so she had a plan set up for us and stuff. We get the sub, and she was cool. But, my classmates were full of imbeciles and morons who didn't care about their grades, so very few kids actually worked (myself included). And then, after having this sub for about a month, the sub lost all our grades. And then we had to basically redo an entire month's work. There! That's my story. By the way, for those who got confused on who Tony Miller is, Tony is a lazy son of Bacchus that could care less. Anywho! Onto the story! FYI: there is no slash between Steve and Nico! No romantic relationship at all that involves him!**

"Please… slow… down!" Steve gasped.

"Wooooooww, Cap. Been out for only three hours, and you're dying! I thought you were supposed to be a super soldier or something!" Nico laughed, bouncing in place.

The two had gone to a zoo in Manhattan, and Steve was pretty certain he was about to die. He collapsed on a nearby bench to catch his breath. While Nico practically killed him by dragging him everywhere, the two were having fun. Steve knew a little bit about a few animals, so he would ask Nico about the animals. It was honestly adorable the way Nico would spout off fact after fact about this animal and that.

Steve faintly heard a yawn come from Nico's direction and looked at the boy.

"Getting sleepy?" Steve chuckled.

"No! I'm… I'm not tired!" Nico exclaimed, though his claim was proved false by his yawn.

"Okay, then let's go see the jackal exhibit." Steve said, getting up.

Nico didn't run ahead this time, preferring to stay by Steve's side. By the time they reached the exhibit, the boy was lightly leaning against Steve's side. Steve smiled and hoisted him up so he could see the jackals.

"So, what do you know about these guys?" he asked.

"They eat just about everything, and that they were Anubis' animal. Usually, they're associated with death since they eat carrion." Nico explained, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

They watched them some more before Steve set Nico down and began the trek out of the zoo. This time though, Nico lagged seriously behind. Steve had to slow down his pace a lot, but he didn't mind. In fact, he found it hilarious how hard Nico was trying to not fall asleep. He eventually gave up on walking, though it was more like trudging, and tugged on Steve's hand. When Steve looked down at him, he couldn't help but smile when Nico made a grabbing hands to signal being picked up. Scooping him up, Steve settled the sleepy son of Hades on his hip and continued on. Nico buried his face in the super soldier's shoulder and fell asleep.

Since they had walked to the zoo, Steve had to walk them back home. He was seriously debating whether or not he should call Tony to send a car. Eventually though, he decided to just hale a cab to drop them off at the tower. It worked, and luckily, the driver didn't say anything about a man with a small child going to Avengers Tower.

After paying the taxi driver, Steve sauntered into the tower and onto the elevator where Pepper was entering.

"Hey, Steve." the CEO of Stark Industries greeted.

"Hey," was the tired response Steve mustered up.

"You look exhausted. And why do you have a kid?" Pepper asked.

"Ask Tony. He'll explain. I'm too tired to right now." Steve said.

"Okay… you go get some sleep. You look like hell." Pepper told him as she got off.

Steve went to his and Nico's floor. As he got off, Nico stirred in his sleep and tried to wake up.

"Go back to sleep, Nico. Nothing's going to bother you." Steve mumbled, walking into Nico's room.

He tried to set him down on his bed, but Nico was determined to not move. He kept clinging onto Steve's neck in a death grip. After a couple of failed attempts, Steve gave up and went to the couch. He laid down on his back so not to crush Nico and instantly fell asleep.

"Hey, Cap, Pepper said that you and the kid- eh, what?" Tony cut himself off at the sight of the super soldier.

"What the heck?" he said in bemusement.

The sight he saw was of Steve holding a sleeping Nico protectively in his arms. The only sign of Nico being there was the mop of black, unruly hair. The rest of him was hidden by Steve's muscled arms. Though an adorable sight, it was still one of the strangest things Tony had ever walked into.

"It appears the Captain and young Mr. Di Angelo have fallen asleep." J.A.R.V.I.S. stated, sounding very sarcastic for an AI.

"I can see that, but what l want to know is what caused this! They were only gone for like four hours!" Tony exclaimed.

"Upon entering, the Captain was carrying Mr. Di Angelo who appeared to be asleep. It was later that the Captain fell asleep as well." J.A.R.V.I.S. informed him.

"Okay then. I'm just gonna leave." Tony said, backing away through the door once more. But not before taking a picture.

Several hours later…

Steve woke up with Nico, still passed out, cradled in his arms. He got off the couch and looked around, noticing the others in the kitchen. Walking towards them, mentally groaning at the notice of Nico's remaining death grip around his neck.

"So, I take it wherever you went worked in tiring him out." Bruce said with a chuckle.

"Wore me out too. Gosh, I had never felt so old with him practically dragging me all around the zoo in Manhattan." Steve agreed.

"Wow, he wore you out too?! Now that is impressive!" Tony exclaimed, making Nico stir.

"Quiet!" Steve hissed, after the boy settled.

"Any reason you're still holding him?" Bruce asked.

"He won't let go." Steve replied, letting Nico hang for a bit to prove his point.

"Must be muscle memory from when he was that age." Bruce mused.

"Wonder how long it'll take before he wakes up." Clint said curiously.

"Probably when food gets here. So, in about ten minutes or so." Steve guessed.

Twelve minutes later…

Nico woke up to the smell of food. He groaned and buried his head back into something hard.

"Well, looks like someone's up." a voice chuckled above him.

Nico opened his eyes and stared up to see Steve looking down at him. With a yelp, Nico jumped back, falling to the floor on his rump.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Nico said, his ears bright red with embarrassment.

How could he have felt so comfortable? No one is able to get near him while he's asleep! Then, how did this guy? How was he even able to hold him?!

"So, the demon spawn awakens." Tony said, interrupting his thoughts.

Nico's eyes flashed black for a second and Tony's sandwich erupted in green flames.

"Hey!" Tony whined.

Steve cracked a smile and pulled Nico to his feet.

"Hope you like shawarma." Clint called from across the room.

"Eh, I'm okay with it." Nico shrugged.

He took the offered sandwich and burned a half of it for the gods with hellfire before taking a bite out of his own half. No one said a word about it, choosing to watch as the eight year that could easily kill them all except for Thor swung his feet around while he ate. Steve didn't react to it, somewhat used to the boy's strange antics.

"So, what'd you guys do at the zoo?" Tony asked.

And with that, Nico's child side came out as he went into full detail of their activities. Steve would occasionally put in a fact or correct an over exaggerated statement.

Later, they all settled down and watched the four Jaws movies. Steve was fascinated by it while Nico found it both funny and fascinating ("It's not even a real shark!").

"Aww, our popsicles are watching their first movies with color." Tony cooed.

"Shh!" said popsicles shushed and went back to the movie.

"Speaking of popsicles," Clint muttered.

"Fury wants to see Nico. I've convinced him to wait until tomorrow, but it's still inevitable." Natasha informed them.

The rest of the night was calm. Around the third movie, Nico started rubbing his eyes and leaning against Steve. By the end of the fourth one, Nico was asleep in Steve's lap.

"I'm gonna go put him down." Steve said, standing up the sleeping child in tow.

They reached Nico's room where Steve woke him up for a bit so he could help him go thru his usual nighttime traditions.

Tucking him into bed, Steve whispered comforting words to Nico, which made him fall asleep faster. Steve smiled as the boy's breathing evened out and he curled up into a ball.

"Goodnight, Nico." Steve whispered before leaving the room.


	6. Chapter 6

"Nico… Nico, wake up…"

"Ugh, five more minutes…" Nico groaned, snuggling back into his pillow.

He felt a massive hand rub his shoulder and curled into the warmth. Son of Hades or not, it was way too fucking early, and he was not a morning person.

"Nico, we have to go to the helicarrier today." he heard Steve's voice say softly.

"Nooooo! Wanna sleep…" Nico whined tiredly.

"Nico… come on, time to get up." Steve sighed, picking him up.

Nico grumbled some more, but grudgingly woke up and changed into black skinny jeans and a gray t-shirt that said Demon Spawn. After that, he pulled on his now oversized aviators jacket and laced up his combat boots.

He trudged into the kitchen where the others were waiting. He stumbled into a seat and laid his head down.

"Now we've got everyone except Tony accounted for." Steve said.

As if on cue, Tony trudged in and sat next to Nico in the same position.

"It's too early for life." Tony grumbled.

"Tell me about it." Nico grunted.

"Get up, you two. We need to go." Steve ordered.

Nico turned towards him and gave him a look Nico hadn't given anyone since Bianca. He made his sleepy eyes widen innocently, jutting out his bottom lip in an adorable pout. This was a specific look he used on Bianca when he wanted something but she would say no. Though Bianca became immune to it, Steve just wasn't able to fight the adorable pout.

"You're going to be the death of me." Steve sighed, picking him up.

"Why can't I be carried?" Tony grumbled, watching Nico settle comfortably against Steve's shoulder.

"Because you're a grown man. Now let's go." Natasha said, leading the way.

_One hour later…_

Nico was now awake and walking alongside the Avengers to a meeting room. He made his crown, which was sort of like his fathers Helm, turn into a black beanie.

"Haven't you heard of bright colors?" Steve asked.

"Haven't you heard of teenager trapped in a child's body?" Nico retorted.

"Nope. Not until one showed up with a huge monster dog that guards the gates of hell." Steve replied.

"Touché."

The Avengers plus one sat around in the meeting room as they waited for Director Fury. They didn't have to wait long, for a few seconds later, the man arrived. Nico felt the darkness that shrouded this man. He could see the dark deeds he'd committed in his one eye.

"Nick Fury." the man introduced, offering his hand to shake.

"Nico di Angelo. I believe you wanted to speak with me?" Nico greeted calmly, shaking the offered hand.

Don't let it be said Nico wasn't a diplomat. As Pluto's ambassador, he had to have some skill at diplomacy. Including dealing with mortals.

"Yes, we do indeed.." Fury replied.

"I'm sorry to say that this conversation will be short. I cannot disclose information about demigods and whatnot." Nico told him.

"No, I already know this. In fact, several of our agents are demigods. Including an agent who has been wanting to meet you. Agent Solace." Fury said.

Nico felt his heart stop.

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**Go on, say it, I just pulled a bitch move right there. Well, review.**


	7. Chapter 7

Nico swallowed the lump in his throat, and looked away from Will's intensive stare.

"Hey, Neeks." Will greeted with an awkward half wave.

Nico couldn't help but snort.

"Still weird as ever, I see." he chuckled.

"Like you're one to talk, death boy." Will retorted.

The tension released after that, the two of them laughing.

"So how've ya been?" Will asked.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Nico questioned.

"I know you weren't right in the head when you did that, but I also know that I hurt your ribs pretty badly." Will told him.

"It was the only way. I lost it. I don't even know what caused me to snap. I really am sorry for what I did though." Nico said apologetically.

"Yeah, I've been looking into that. It just doesn't make sense. That morning, you were your usual self. By afternoon, you were destroying the Camp." Will informed him.

"Wait, afternoon? I remember losing control on a Monday. It was Sunday by the time the Council de aged me and I started to remember what happened." Nico said confusedly.

"Neeks, you were fine all week until you snapped on Sunday." Will told him.

"No, I remember Monday. I ran an errand for my father and got a gash on my leg and you freaked out over it. I woke up on Sunday." Nico retorted determinedly.

"What was this errand?" Will demanded.

"I don't remember." Nico said in realization.

"Hold on! What is going on?! How do you two know each other?!" Tony interrupted the very serious conversation.

"Will and I used to date. We kinda can't keep a relationship now that I'm stuck as a second grader unless the Council decides I should be sixteen again. And there is something seriously wrong here. Don't tell me I pulled another Rip Van Wrinkle, Will." Nico said.

"I don't know, Nico. I'll look more into it. Now that I know your side, it may help things move along. But, if it's what I'm starting to assume, then you've been framed." Will replied.

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**Okay! Yeah, it's short, but I had to make this chapter perfect! That's why it took so long. And I've been really busy lately with wrangling bratty children and weird freshmen. I mean, some are pretty normal, but the ones that I've been around are pretty weird. Nothing against the freshmen majority! **


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